


come in out of the rain

by Miaou Jones (miaoujones)



Category: Free!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Flower Shop, Love Confessions, Love at First Sight, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-07
Updated: 2017-06-07
Packaged: 2018-11-10 14:08:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,022
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11128449
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/miaoujones/pseuds/Miaou%20Jones
Summary: sousuke has been coming to makoto's flower shop for three months, buying real flowers for a fictional girlfriend. but now there's been a fictional break-up, and it's time for sousuke to get back to reality.





	come in out of the rain

**Author's Note:**

  * For [lonelywhales](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lonelywhales/gifts).



> written for saso 2017, bonus round 1.

the door to the flower shop is wide open, as it always is on bright, warm days like this one. 

it had been closed the first time sousuke came here, driven by the rain to seek shelter under the shop's awning. he'd been there a minute or so, pressed against the side of the shop, when the door, in which a sign marked "closed" was clearly hanging, had slid open and a warm voice had said, "come in, please!" 

the shopkeeper—makoto, as he'd introduced himself and as sousuke has been greeting him every time he's come in for the past three months, a full season of a year—had a smile as warm as his voice. warm enough that sousuke could feel it on his own skin, and he'd glanced away that first time, his gaze landing on rows and unfathomable rows of flowers. some were in careful vase arrangements, others bunched loosely by type in buckets, awaiting their arrangements. he hadn't known flowers came in so many shapes and sizes and colors. 

"just came in to get out of the rain?" makoto had been smiling when sousuke looked back at him. "don't worry; mine is the closest shop to the bus stop, so it happens all the time."

"actually," sousuke had heard himself say, "i came to buy some flowers."

"ah!" makoto's smile had brightened, the new warmth spreading to sousuke under his skin. "in that case, i'm happy i was still here."

sousuke had swallowed his words and nodded, then managed to come up with a "thank you."

"well then," makoto had said, moving towards the flowers, "what's the occasion?"

"my girlfriend," sousuke had said, even though he didn't have a girlfriend. before he could dwell on that, he saw makoto looking at him and added, "i'm proposing tonight." 

as he meditated on the oddity of having said such a thing, sousuke missed makoto's reaction; he only came out of himself again when makoto presented him with a simple, elegant bouquet of flowers sousuke didn't know the names of. he thought to inquire about them, but then missed the names and meanings as the tones and timbres of makoto's voice washed through him.

"i hope she says yes!" makoto had said as sousuke was leaving.

"what?"

that smile again. "your girlfriend. i hope you're buying flowers for your fiancée the next time you come in."

 _the next time he comes in._ sousuke had looked at the flowers in his hand, wrapped in layers of shielding plastic. "i hope so too," he'd said, and dashed out into the rain with his flowers.

and so the saga of sousuke's fictional girlfriend, who became his fictional fiancée and with whom he celebrated special occasions that required flowers on a more than weekly basis, had begun. after two months, things had come to a sad end when she and sousuke had parted ways for unspecified reasons. makoto had not pushed for an explanation, and sousuke had been relieved; his creativity had been tapped just getting this far with the story.

it's been three weeks since sousuke has been to the flower shop. he hasn't been able to think of a reason to come; finally he just came.

as he stands outside the flower shop now, he hesitates for a moment. but just for a moment, a small one—and then he's walking through the open door.

"sousuke!" the brilliance of makoto's smile coaxes one out of sousuke too, like always. then makoto's smile softens. "how are you?"

coming from makoto, in that quiet and sincere tone of his, it's not a greeting; it's an actual question. 

sousuke comes up with an actual, non-fictional answer: "getting by." he smiles. 

his is not as nice as makoto's, but somehow it gets makoto to smile again too. "so—is there someone new? flowers for a first date, perhaps?"

"yes," sousuke hears himself say, and wants to kick himself. 

he doesn't let himself say much else while makoto prepares the bouquet. "these are some of my favorites," makoto confides as he hands over the flowers: amaryllis, white and yellow chrysanthemum, daffodil, gardenia, and heather.

sousuke nods, pays for the flowers, and walks out the door to the bus stop.

he stands there; even when the bus comes and the door opens, he doesn't get on. 

he stands there, looking at the flowers...

after a while, he pulls the yellow chrysanthemums from the bouquet and leaves them on the sidewalk.

he walks back to the flower shop, in through the open door.

makoto's eyebrows arch when he sees sousuke. "is anything wrong with the flowers?"

sousuke shakes his head; then, looking at the bouquet, reconsiders. he turns to the rows of flowers, finds the one he wants, adds a tulip to the flowers he's holding. they're perfect now, and he holds them out to makoto.

after a wordless moment, makoto takes them. he stands looking at the flowers and sousuke does too: 

amaryllis, worth beyond beauty—chrysanthemum, fidelity, optimism, joy; white ones for truth and loyal love—daffodil, new beginnings—gardenia, purity and sweetness, secret love; _they tell the receiver, 'you are lovely'_ , sousuke remembers makoto telling him once—white heather, _wishes will come true_ —

yellow tulip, _there's sunshine in your smile._

"no yellow chrysanthemums." makoto's voice is soft as he looks at the flowers he's holding.

"no," sousuke agrees; slighted love has been left behind, out on the sidewalk, maybe carried away on the wind by now. not in makoto's hands, in any case.

makoto's lashes sweep down more deeply, his eyes closing. his lashes are unexpectedly damp when they sweep up a moment later, his gaze bright as it finds sousuke. "i didn't know if you'd ever—"

 _oh._ "how long." sousuke's mouth has gone dry and he does his best to moisten it enough for words. "how long have you known...?"

makoto's gaze softens, stays bright. "from the moment you came through that door out of the rain." he takes a deep, easy breath, smiles just as deep and easy.

sousuke could drown in that smile. 

instead he finds himself floating on it...

he smiles too.


End file.
